Sri Lanka on Monday deployed soldiers to quell unrest sparked by a fear of nighttime prowlers known as “Grease Devils”, after at least five died over the past two weeks in a wave of vigilantism and clashes with police across the island nation.

Sri Lanka’s army also set up a new brigade in Kinniya near the eastern port of Trincomalee, where thousands of angry people last week besieged a government office after fighting with the navy in pursuit of suspected “grease devil”.

The increased deployment came a day after a mob killed a police officer in the northwestern town of Puttalam. Troops have remained out in force since Sri Lanka’s government won a 25-year civil war in May 2009 with the Tamil Tiger ethnic separatists.

“The military and the police are doing the patrols in the towns and the areas affected by the incidents in the east, northwest and north,” military spokesman Brigadier Nihal Hapuarachchi said.

More than 30 incidents of violence and vigilantism have been reported in eight districts of the country, primarily in areas inhabited by minority Muslim or Tamil people as the government and opposition trade blame over the phenomenon.

Traditionally in Sri Lanka, a “grease devil” was a thief who wore only underwear and covered his body in grease to make himself hard to grab, but the new iteration has a more sinister reputation as prowling attacker of women.

“It is a new kind of fear psychosis,” lawyer Gomin Dayasiri, who has often supported the government’s more nationalistic positions, told Reuters. “It is certainly an organised fear psychosis to destabilise the society.”

The government has said the “grease devil” panic started with criminals taking advantage of traditional beliefs in spirits and devils in Sri Lanka’s rural areas, but has been hijacked by political opponents trying to spread mayhem.

It blamed the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party, which led bloody insurrections in 1971 and 1988-89 stoked among the rural population, for spreading the panic.

The JVP denies it is behind it, and has suggested in parliament that government-linked forces may be responsible, saying female blood was required to find an ancient gold treasure or help prolong President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rule.

Opposition parties have also said the government may be stirring up pandemonium as an excuse to extend tough wartime emergency regulations, amid Western pressure to lift them.

“This government can justify the continuation of the emergency only by showing that the police can’t control civil life, that to maintain law and order it needs military on the ground,” an opposition-linked analyst told Reuters on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation from authorities.

Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne this month told parliament the government may lift the emergency laws, but is awaiting the recommendation of Rajapaksa’s national security council.

Two years after the end of Sri Lanka's civil war, the north's roads, railways and homes are being rebuilt. But little attention has been placed on helping a population suffering from the trauma of being caught in the middle of decades of fighting.

Mental health workers have told Al Jazeera that not only is the treatment of post-traumatic stress not a priority for the government, but that in some cases the military has refused to allow counsellors in to reach affected people.

Al Jazeera's Steve Chao was granted special permission to report in the still sensitive area of northern Sri Lanka.

Angry Sri Lankans killed a police officer on Sunday in the latest outbreak of violence sparked by a fear of nocturnal prowlers known popularly as "Grease Devils" that has gripped rural areas in the island nation over the past two weeks.

Another officer and five other people were hurt in two separate incidents in the northwestern Sri Lanka town Puttalam, after residents gave chase to a suspected "grease devil," police and witnesses said.

Traditionally, a grease devil was a thief who wore only underwear and covered his body in grease to make himself hard to grab, but the modern iteration has a far more sinister reputation as prowling attacker of women.

Five people have died in outbreaks of violence related to the grease devil panic so far, including Sunday's incident.

More than 30 incidents of violence and vigilantism have been reported in eight districts of the country, primarily in areas inhabited by minority Muslim or Tamil people as the government and opposition trade blame over the phenomenon.

"Some people had attacked a policeman on traffic duty in Puttalam town and he died after being admitted to the hospital," police spokesman Prashantha Jayakody said.

Jayakody said that in a separate incident in Puttalam, people assaulted a police constable who went to the village. He declined to say what prompted the attacks.

Residents told Reuters that people had spotted an unidentified man and given chase, but policemen on duty fired in the air and later toward the crowd.

"At least five people were injured including a 13-year-old child," said an area resident told Reuters by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of angering the authorities.

The government has said "grease devils" are merely criminals taking advantage of traditional beliefs in spirits and devils in Sri Lanka's rural areas, and have vowed to punish those responsible for spreading panic about them.

On Saturday, in the nearby town of Kalpitiya, a government hospital refused treatment to a suspected "grease devil" who was brought by the navy after area residents attacked him.

Hospital officials were angry at damage caused to the building after residents and navy sailors who kept the man from being lynched got into a clash, local media reported.

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